Toast to success

Do you ever get a food stuck in your mind and you won't be satisfied till you have it?

Yeah, that's how I felt Sunday morning. After reading other bloggers eating French toast and my husband talking about it, all I wanted was a piece - or 10 - of French toast.

So after my run, I walked to the grocery and picked up some egg substitute and a Sunday paper and headed home to make a much-thought-about breakfast. I poured 1/2 cup egg substitute into a shallow bowl and added a healthy dash of cinnamon, a couple drops of vanilla and some Silk Almond Milk. I whisked it all together and got set to dip the wheat bread and get cooking.

That's when I had an idea. A genius idea born from Operation: Clean Out the Pantry. I took a handful of Fiber One cereal (that I've had far too long) and roughly chopped it in the coffee grinder. I dipped the bread in the egg, then the cereal and put it on the griddle.

French toast must be sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled with syrup.

What was put on the plate was crunchy on the outside, a bit gooey on the inside and tasty all the way around.

The only thing I might have done differently is processed the cereal a bit less. Of course, I'll probably find this out later in the week as I need to redeem my Operation: COP efforts. You see, I picked up a box of cereal at the grocery that my friend promised tasted like candied pecans found at the festival. So instead of being down one box of cereal, I am up one ... or two ... however you decide to look at it.

It's OK to be chicken

I didn't want to cook. I had just spent a whirlwind weekend in Cincinnati with family, driven 3+ hours in a hot car and still had to grocery shop and pick up Denali from the kennel. That was enough for a day. Or two.

Instead of picking up a pizza, which was very tempting, or buying a slew of frozen entrees at the grocery, I picked up one of my favorite ready-to-go meals: the rotisserie chicken. My grocery always has them hot and waiting for me near the checkout lanes. While they have several flavors, I like to stick with good ol' plain. It makes it that much easier to dress it up.

(Get it ... the chicken's dressed up! OK, I'm lame.)

Without further ado, the many faces ... or meals ... of the rotisserie chicken.

Monday: Chicken breast slices (about half of breast) with a microwaved sweet potato and grilled summer squash. (With the holiday and all, I forgot that I was supposed to go meatless.)

Tuesday: Wrap with chicken breast, raw summer squash, tomato, red onion and a wedge of the new sun-dried tomato Laughing Cow.

Wednesday: Chicken thigh quarter, broccoli and a sweet potato mashed with Silk Almond Milk, pumpkin pie spice and Truvia.

BBQ Chicken Wrap

Thursday: Wrap with chicken breast (on to breast No. 2), 1/2 T barbecue sauce, 1/2 T light ranch, shredded cheddar and red onion. Grilled until it was all warm and melty.

Friday: Quesadilla with chicken, salsa and homemade creamy avocado sauce. Wait. What is homemade avocado sauce? I took a 1/4 avocado and 1/4 cup 0% Fage, and I mashed it with a splash of lime juice and dashes of cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder. By the way, this meal scores extra points because I served it with a 1/2 cup fat-free refried beans. Beans that were in a can, which was in my pantry. Operation: Clean Out the Pantry, full steam ahead!

How do you dress up chicken?